Handheld order unit and cash handling device

ABSTRACT

Methods and devices allow a handheld order unit to be used with a cash handling device. A handheld order unit may be used by a staff person to enter order information, to display an amount due for the meal or other transaction, to facilitate payment, to print receipts, and to communicate information about the transaction to a cash handling device. The cash handling device may identify the handheld order unit and the assigned user for the unit and determine what financial documents need to be inserted by the user for reconciliation purposes.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application based on U.S. applicationSer. No. 12/254,533, filed Oct. 20, 2008, entitled “Handheld Order Unitand Cash Handling Device.” The content of the aforementioned applicationis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Handheld order-taking systems are used in bars, restaurants, andstadiums to gather customer order information and send the informationdirectly to fulfillment such as, for example, a kitchen or bartender.This technology allows customers to be processed quickly and eliminatesthe need for cashiers to double enter orders such as, for example, onetime at the customer's table and again at an order entry station. Inspite of these efficiencies, reconciliation redundancy still exists.Staff must facilitate payments out of a point of sale cash registereither throughout a shift or at the end of a shift. Management isrequired to balance out cashiers individually and then balance outregisters as an additional activity at the end of the shift.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the invention. The summary is not anextensive overview of the invention. It is neither intended to identifykey or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope ofthe invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts ofthe invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the descriptionbelow.

In one embodiment, a handheld order unit may be used to allow staff toremotely process payments, further increasing efficiency by eliminatingthe point of sale cash register. Cash recyclers could also be utilizedto build individual staff change banks at the start of shift.Information can be shared between the remote order taking units and acash recycler to enable quick reconciliation of staff activity at theend of the shift.

In another embodiment, a handheld order unit may be used with a cashhandling device. A handheld order unit may be used by a staff person toenter order information, to display an amount due for the meal or othertransaction, to facilitate payment, to print receipts, and tocommunicate information about the transaction to a cash handling device.The cash handling device may identify the handheld order unit and theassigned user for the unit and determine what financial documents needto be inserted by the user for reconciliation purposes.

In a further embodiment, a cash handling device and a handheld orderunit are provided. The handheld order unit is assigned to a user. Theuser may enter order information into the handheld order unit. Orderinformation may be communicated from the handheld order unit to the cashhandling device. The handheld order unit may display to the user anamount due for the meal or other transaction. Payment information may beentered into the handheld order unit by the user. The handheld orderunit may also help facilitate the payment such as, for example, byallowing a credit or debit card to be swiped and by printing a receiptas well as a credit or debit slip. A reconciliation may take placebetween the cash handling device and the handheld order unit.

In yet another embodiment, a system may include a cash handling devicesuch as, for example, a cash recycler, as well as a handheld order unit.The cash handling device and the handheld order unit may both includememory, a display, an input means, and a communication means. The cashhandling device may also include one or more stackers for storingfinancial documents such as, for example, currency of differentdenominations, checks, credit card slips, and debit card slips. The cashhandling device may also include containers for storing coins. The cashhandling device may also include a scanner that may scan and maydifferentiate between different financial documents and bills ofdifferent denominations. The cash handling device may also include aninput mechanism to receive financial documents that are deposited intothe cash handling device. Computer executable instructions may cause thecash handling device to identify a user of the handheld order unit, toreceive order information from the handheld order unit, to receivepayment information from the handheld order unit, to determinereconciliation information for the user of the handheld order unit, todisplay said reconciliation information to the user, to allow saidfinancial documents to be input to the input mechanism, to scan saidfinancial documents with the scanner, and to route said financialdocuments to the appropriate one of said plurality of stackers. Computerexecutable instructions may cause the handheld order unit to allowselection of the user of the handheld order unit, to allow entry of theorder information, to display billing information, to allow entry of thepayment information, and to communicate the order information and thepayment information to the cash handling device.

In still another embodiment, the cash handling device may be a cashrecycler.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparentupon reviewing the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitedin the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicatesimilar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable operating environment inwhich various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified diagram of a cash handling device inaccordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates various features of cash handling devices andassociated handheld order units that may be used in accordance withaspects of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sample handheld order unit that may be used inconjunction with the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method of utilizing a handheld order unitin conjunction with a cash handling device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, systems andmethods are illustrated for utilizing a handheld order unit inconjunction with a cash handling device.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to cash handling devices. Cashhandling devices generally refer to devices that are configured toaccept and/or dispense currency. Cash handling devices include paymentkiosks, point of sale systems such as cash registers, automated tellermachines (ATMs), currency recyclers and the like. Currency recyclersgenerally refer to cash handling devices that are configured to dispensethe same currency that was earlier deposited. For example, if a userdeposits a 5 dollar bill into a cash recycler machine, the same 5 dollarbill may be dispensed during a subsequent withdrawal transaction. Thus,using currency recyclers, deposited currency may be placed immediatelyback into use and circulation instead of being held or frozen until abank is able to collect and reconcile the funds, stored indefinitelyand/or taken out of circulation entirely as is the case with othercurrent cash handling devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable operating environment inwhich various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented. Devices 102,104, 106 may include currency recyclers and/or other cash handlingdevices and may be located at various sites such as locations 101, 103,and 105. The locations may represent different stores of a businessenterprise. For example, locations 101, 103, and 105 may represent threedifferent grocery stores located in different geographical areasbelonging to a grocery store chain. Those skilled in the art willrealize that additional cash handling devices may be located in the samestore or in other stores belonging to the grocery store chain. Inaddition, those skilled in the art will realize that a grocery storechain is only one illustrative example of the types of locations orbusinesses that cash handling devices such as recyclers may be located.For example, cash recyclers may also be located in gas stations, postoffices, department stores, and other places where cash and otherfinancial instruments are deposited or withdrawn.

FIG. 1 further illustrates that cash handling devices 102, 104, and 106may be connected to a communications network such as communicationsnetwork 120. Communications network 120 may represent: 1) a local areanetwork (LAN); 2) a simple point-to-point network (such as directmodem-to-modem connection); and/or 3) a wide area network (WAN),including the Internet and other commercial based network services.

Cash handling devices 102, 104, and 106 may communicate with one anotheror with a financial institution such as bank 130 via communicationnetwork 120 in various manners. For example, communications between cashhandling devices 102, 104, 106 and bank 130 may use protocols andnetworks such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP, BLUETOOTH, Wi-Fi, ultrawide band (UWB), low power radio frequency (LPRF), radio frequencyidentification (RFID), infrared communication, IrDA, third-generation(3G) cellular data communications, Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM), or other wireless communication networks or thelike. Communications network 120 may be directly connected to afinancial institution such as bank 130. In another embodiment,communications network 120 may be connected to a second network orseries of networks 140 before being connected to bank 130. According toone or more arrangements, bank 130 may utilize an infrastructure whichincludes a server 150 having components such as a memory, a processor, adisplay, and a communication interface.

Cash recycler 200 may further provide display 213 to present data and/ormessages to a user. For example, display 213 may be configured todisplay a recycler balance, a transaction interface, a current depositcount, security options, transportation options and the like.

One or more input devices 254 such as an antenna, serial port, infraredport, Bluetooth module, firewire port, keypad, keyboard, mouse,touchscreen, fingerprint scanner, retinal scanner, proximity cardreader, RFID scanner and/or writer, magnetic card reader, barcodereader, and/or combinations thereof, or any other type of input deviceor reader capable of inputting to, communicating with, or reading from ahandheld order unit 400, may also be included in or connected torecycler 200.

As shown in FIG. 4, the handheld order unit 400 may include one or morebuttons or multidirectional keypads 402, 404, 406 in order to facilitateentry of information into the unit 400. A touchsensitive screen 408 mayallow information to be entered by or displayed to a user. Thetouchsensitive screen 408 may also include an area 410 for a virtualkeyboard or handwriting area in which the user may handwrite informationusing a stylus 412. The handheld order unit 400 may communicate with thecash handling device via any type of wired or wireless communicationport, protocol, or coupling (not shown). Sample wired connectionsinclude serial interfaces, parallel interfaces, USB, firewire, andEthernet connections. Sample wireless connections includes WiFi such asIEEE standard 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n as well asBluetooth, infrared, and other radiofrequency protocols. Sample handheldorder units 400 suitable for use with the present invention may beobtained from a variety of sources. The handheld order unit 400 may alsoinclude a magnetic strip reader for swiping credit cards as well as aprinter for printing bills or receipts.

One of printers 256 may also be included in or connected to recycler 200for printing receipts and notifications as well.

In cash recycler 200, stackers 217 and cartridges 215 are configured tostore currency.

Currency may be inserted through input slot 209 and withdrawn throughwithdrawal slot 211. Stackers 217 may be used to store and organizecurrency based on denomination. For example, all $5 bills may be storedin stacker 2 (i.e., stacker 217B) while all $20 bills may be stored instacker 3 (i.e., stacker 217C). Cartridges 215A and 215B, on the otherhand, may be used to store overflow currency and/or currency fortransport. Thus, if stackers 217 become full, additional currency thatis deposited into recycler 200 may be stored in an overflow cartridgesuch as cartridge 215B. One of cartridges 215 may be designated as atransport cartridge that stores currency to be withdrawn from themachine and transported to the bank. Alternatively or additionally, oneor more of cartridges 215 may be used as an unfit bill store forcurrency determined to be defective to a degree that it should be takenout of circulation. Cartridges 215 and stackers 217 may further beremovable for easier access or transport.

Scanning unit 207 may be configured to scan each bill or currency thatis inserted into recycler 200. Scanning unit 207 may be configured todetect defects, unauthorized reproductions, denomination, type ofcurrency (e.g., which country the currency originates from) and thelike. Scanning unit 207 may further be configured to refuse money(either through input slot 209 or withdrawal slot 211) if it cannot beproperly recognized or if the currency is deemed to be an unauthorizedreproduction. Scanning unit 207 may send such data to processor 201which may, in turn, save the data in memory 203.

Further, recycler 200 may include one or more mechanical orelectromechanical systems (not shown) for automatically transferringcurrency between stackers 217, cartridges 215, input slot 209 andwithdrawal slot 211 in recycler 200. For example, currency mayautomatically be withdrawn from stackers 217 and directed into cartridge215A for storage using a series of motorized rollers. In anotherexample, currency stored in cartridge 215A may be withdrawn andorganized and stored into stackers 217 according to denomination. Usingsuch systems to facilitate the automated movement of currency betweenstorage components and other portions of recycler 200 may provideefficiency and security by alleviating some of the need to manuallyhandle currency stored within recycler 200.

FIG. 3 illustrates various features of a handheld order unit 400 used inconjunction with a cash handling device, such as cash recycler 200 ofFIG. 2.

The images in FIG. 3 depict use of a handheld order unit 400 and cashhandling device 200 in a restaurant or similar environment. In image302, a waiter or waitress 307 is holding a handheld order unit 400 whiletaking an order from a customer 303 sitting at table 305. The waiter orwaitress 307 may enter an order into the handheld order unit 400. Thehandheld order unit 400 or a remote computer may calculate the amount ofmoney due and print a bill for the customer 303. At an appropriate time,the waiter or waitress 307 may present the bill to the customer 303 forpayment. The customer 303 may pay for the restaurant bill with cash,coins, check, or credit card. The waiter or waitress may input into thehandheld order unit 400 whether the customer paid with cash, coins,check, or credit card. The process may be repeated any number of timesdepending on the number of customers that the waiter or waitress isservicing at the restaurant.

In images 310 and 306, the waiter or waitress 307 may walk to a locationin the restaurant in which the cash handling device 200 is located. Thehandheld order unit 400 may communicate with the cash handling device200, which may then prompt 204 the waiter or waitress 307 on display 213to enter the appropriate cash, coins, checks, or credit card slips intocash handling device 200.

For example, after initiating communication between the cash handlingdevice 200 and the handheld order unit 400, the cash handling device 200might note for reconciliation purposes how much cash and coins have beencollected by the waiter or waitress 307. In addition, the cash handlingdevice might note how many checks and credit card slips had beencollected as well as the amount of each check. The cash handling devicemay then proceed to instruct the waiter or waitress 307 to enter theappropriate amount of cash and coins as well as the identified checksand credit card slips. The cash handling device 200 may perform theseprompts in a specific order, if desired.

In an aspect of the invention, the cash handling device 200 may also beconnected to a financial institution via communication network 120. Thismay enable the financial institution to monitor on a real time orperiodic basis how much cash or currency is contained in the cashhandling device 200.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method of utilizing a handheld order unit400 in conjunction with a cash handling device 200.

At the start 500 of the process, one or more handheld units 400 may beassigned to one or more staff 307. The assignments may be temporary orpersistent in nature. If temporary, each handheld order unit may beassigned at specific intervals such as, for example, at the beginning orend of a shift. The assignments may be made locally on each handheldorder unit 400 such as, for example, by selecting on the unit 400 whichstaff person 307 will be the user for the shift. Alternatively, theassignments may be made at the cash handling device 200. Another optionis for the cash handling device 200 to recognize the handheld order unitand its corresponding staff user.

If desired, a cash balance may be debited to a staff member's shiftbalance 502. Currency and coins may be dispensed to the staff memberfrom cash handling device 200 as part of this step. The currency andcoins may be used by the staff member to provide change at a customer'stable when a bill is paid.

Orders may be taken throughout the shift by the staff member 504. Inaddition, payments may be facilitated or accepted via the handheld orderunit 400 during the shift. The payments may be made by cash, coins,check, debit card, or credit card.

Sales information may be provided 506 to the cash handling device 200.For example, real time sales information may be sent wirelessly to thecash handling device. Alternatively, sales information may be stored onthe handheld order unit 400 and later synchronized or communicated tothe cash handling device 200 at the end of the shift or anotherconvenient time.

If desired, real time, periodic, or on demand reporting may be madeavailable to local management, corporate management, or a remotefinancial institution 508.

At the end of a shift or another desired time, a staff member may takethe handheld order unit 400 to the cash handling device 200 in order toperform reconciliation 510. The cash handling device 200 may recognizethe handheld order unit 400 in a variety of ways 512. For example, therecognition may occur with or without user invention. User interventionmay take place by having the staff person 307 manually enter his or heruser identity into the cash handling device 200. Alternatively,recognition may occur in a more automated fashion such as, for example,by use of an RFID tag on the handheld order unit 400, by scanning of abar code on the unit 400, by reading aproximity card embedded in theunit 400, and the like.

After identifying the user and determining what is required in order toreconcile the user for the applicable period of time 514, the cashhandling device 200 can then prompt the user for and accept entry of theappropriate amount of currency, coins, checks, credit cards slips, anddebit card slips 516. The appropriate amount of money may equal, forexample, the starting bank plus the customer payments.

Although the foregoing example explains how a cash handling device andhandheld order unit might be used to reconcile activities of wait staffin a restaurant, bar, retail, or similar environment, persons of skillin the art will understand that this concept could also be applied toany business that has employees making deliveries and accepting paymentslocally or remotely such as, for example, pizza delivery, packagedelivery, and the like.

Although not required, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciatethat various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, adata processing system, or as one or more computer-readable mediastoring computer-executable instructions. Accordingly, those aspects maytake the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Inaddition, various signals representing data or events as describedherein may be transferred between a source and a destination in the formof light and/or electromagnetic waves traveling throughsignal-conducting media such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/orwireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).

Aspects of the invention have been described in terms of illustrativeembodiments thereof Numerous other embodiments, modifications andvariations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occurto persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of thisdisclosure. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the steps illustrated in the illustrative figures may beperformed in other than the recited order, and that one or more stepsillustrated may be optional in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

We claim:
 1. A system comprising: a handheld order unit; and a cashhandling device comprising: a first processor for executing firstcomputer-executable instructions; first memory that stores the firstcomputer-executable instructions; a first display; a first inputcomponent for receiving user input; a scanner; a first communicationcomponent to communicate with the handheld order unit; and an inputcomponent to receive payments, wherein the first computer executableinstructions cause the cash handling device to: identify a user of thehandheld order unit from a plurality of users, receive order informationfrom the handheld order unit, receive payment information from thehandheld order unit, selectively determine reconciliation informationfor the user of the handheld order unit via RFID recognition for aperiod of time from a plurality of order information, and display saidreconciliation information to the user, wherein the handheld order unitcomprises: a second processor for executing second computer-executableinstructions; second memory that stores the second computer-executableinstructions; a second display; a second input component for receivinguser input; a printer; and a second communication component tocommunicate with the cash handling device, wherein the second computerexecutable instructions cause the handheld order unit to: select theuser of the handheld order unit, allow entry of the order information,display billing information, print the billing information, allow entryof the payment information, communicate the order information and thepayment information to the cash handling device, and wherein the firstcomputer executable instructions further cause the cash handling deviceto: allow financial documents to be input to the input component; andscan at least one financial document input into the cash handlingdevice, the at least one financial document including paper currency andat least one check.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least onefinancial document further includes at least one of: a credit card slipand a debit card slip.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the cashhandling device further comprises a plurality of stackers to store saidfinancial documents.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said at least onefinancial document is routed to an appropriate stacker of the pluralityof stackers containing similar financial documents.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the handheld order unit further includes a magneticcard reader for accepting payments made with a credit card.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said order information is reported tomanagement.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the input component isconfigured to receive financial documents that are deposited into a cashrecycler.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein said financial documentsinclude at least one of: $1 bills, $5 bills, $10 bills, $20 bills, $100bills, checks, credit card slips, and debit card slips.
 9. A methodcomprising: selecting, by a handheld order unit, a user of the handheldorder unit; identifying, by a cash handling device, the user of thehandheld order unit; identifying, by the cash handling device, an RFIDtag associated with the handheld order unit; receiving, by the handheldorder unit, order information from the user of the handheld order unit;receiving, by the cash handling device, and from the handheld orderunit, the order information; displaying, by the handheld order unit,billing information; printing, by the handheld order unit, the billinginformation; receiving, by the handheld order unit, payment informationfrom the user of the handheld order unit; receiving, by the cashhandling device, and from the handheld order unit, the paymentinformation; receiving, by the cash handling device, one or morefinancial documents inputted to an input mechanism of the cash handlingdevice; scanning, by the cash handling device, the one or more financialdocuments inputted to the input mechanism of the cash handling device,the one or more financial documents including paper currency and atleast one check; selectively determining, by the cash handling device,reconciliation information for the user of the handheld order unit for aperiod of time based on the order information and the paymentinformation; and displaying, by the cash handling device, saidreconciliation information to the user.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the one or more financial documents further include at least oneof: a credit card slip and a debit card slip.
 11. The method of claim 9,further comprising routing, by the cash handling device, the one or morefinancial documents to an appropriate stacker of a plurality of stackerscontaining similar financial documents.
 12. The method of claim 9,wherein the one or more financial documents include at least one of: $1bills, $5 bills, $10 bills, $20 bills, $100 bills, checks, credit cardslips, and debit card slips.